My hubby's parents and aunts and uncles are having "late-life" crises, so to speak. We used to have a family reunion every 5 years, which was no problem.
Hubby's aunt just announced before Christmas that we all needed to stop everything and have another reunion, and that we all needed to fly across the country to their house for it. (usually it's closer to where everyone lives, within driving distance for most)
It's only been two years since the last reunion. There's been a lot of speculation about why, but my guess if they are approaching 70, and they all have this intense and sometimes awkward motivation to "make memories". Without sugar coating, I think they're worried they're going to die any minute so everything has become more amplified, ergo we have to now have reunions every other year even if it's financially difficult for all of their children, who are struggling with preschool bills and work.
So yeah. I'm a little peaved about all of this because I just had to spend $1400 on four plane tickets to the reunion.
And that was the cheapest option. The kids are 3 and 4, so they can't get lap fares anymore. And the aunt scheduled the reunion to coincide with the busiest two-weeks for tourism in their city.
I wish she'd waited two weeks so I could have paid less for airfare! And worse, we're paying all that money but we'll only be able to go for four days. If it were longer and we could see some sights, I'd feel better, but no.
Once again, they set the dates without consulting anyone, and my son has to be back home so he can go to his kindergarten screening days (we can't miss them).
So yeah. I'm bummed about the money. I wish it were under $1000!! It will be nice to see hubby's cousins. We always have fun, but it's going to become a real financial problem if we have to do this every two years or every year instead of every five.
It wasn't as hard before kids, but now we have reduced income, greater expenses, and have to pay for FOUR airfares!!!
Thanks for letting me rant.
Plane ticket blues
January 23rd, 2013 at 03:03 pm
January 23rd, 2013 at 03:29 pm 1358954982
January 23rd, 2013 at 03:43 pm 1358955823
January 23rd, 2013 at 04:02 pm 1358956966
January 23rd, 2013 at 04:03 pm 1358956985
My MIL freaked out when I said the cost of plane tickets was too high. She went on a tirade about how we can't 'isolate' ourselves and family need to be the No.1 priority. (Read: HER family. She never seems to prioritize mine...)
Anyway, sure. I get it. Back in the 1980s when they were raising kids, if you lived far apart it was hard to be connected to family. Long distance calls cost a lot of money. And there was really no way to see what was going on in people's everyday lives.
That isn't the case now. We talk to hubby's cousins every week and are all facebook friends, etc. It's much easier to keep up with peoples' everyday lives now due to technology. I don't feel like we need to go broke flying out there every other year.
As for just the older folks getting together. No, they're freaking out about the next generations (us and our kids) and trying to create and preserve some magical legacy of connection. I can't explain it, but I can feel that as the undercurrent when they're talking.
January 23rd, 2013 at 06:05 pm 1358964339
January 23rd, 2013 at 08:19 pm 1358972389
January 23rd, 2013 at 11:29 pm 1358983755
I agree it's less stressful and much more fun to send/share photos and experiences through social media. I like the fact that I can edit thoughts and not get pushed into reacting to situations or dramas orchestrated by others.
January 24th, 2013 at 01:54 am 1358992463
Anyway, not the battle I feel like picking. As for his aunt/cousins they consider us and hubby's parents the "wealthy" and at the same time "cheapskate" side of the family. Mostly we have money because we carefully spend it, while they spend a lot on big new cars, teak baby bassinets, and giant mcmansions, etc. You know how that goes. If we said we couldn't afford it, I don't want to deal with the bile we'd get from that. It's no win.
January 24th, 2013 at 01:55 pm 1359035748
January 28th, 2013 at 01:25 pm 1359379544
Jerry
January 28th, 2013 at 01:51 pm 1359381074